Briton bunkers down in Cairns, ready for cyclone Yasi

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They put mattresses against the walls and moved their furniture and belongings to lower floors of their house

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The Cairns apartment block has been boarded up ahead of the looming cyclone

Sophie TedmansonSydney

Last updated at 6:49AM, February 2 2011

In the home-made “cyclone bunker” in the basement of the Cairns house he
shares with his partner, Briton Alan Buckingham has everything he needs for
when Yasi hits: tinned food, charged mobile phones, torches with fresh
batteries, a gas stove - and a map of Oxford’s best drinking spots.

The Tube map, stuck to the wall of the 4m x 4m (13ft x 13ft) room, is a little
reminder of home for the Englishman who is set to experience his first
cyclone when one of the deadliest storms to hit Australia strikes northern
Queensland in the coming hours.